Blu-ray's Big Plans For 2007

The Blu-ray consortium believes that the format war is in its final stages and the winners are, well, them. Their catalog of movies is a convincing argument.

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LAS VEGAS—Here's a shocker: The Blu-ray consortium believes that the format war is in its final stages and the winners are, well, them. At CES 2007, the group held a press conference to reflect back on 2006 and talk about plans for the year ahead. They enlisted a panel of heavy hitters from big name movie studios, all of whom are firm supporters of the Blu-ray standard. The list includes Warner Brothers, MGM, Paramount, LionsGate, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and of course, Sony Pictures.

According to the group, Blu-ray passed HD DVD in weekly sales by 24%. The ratio of Blu-ray sales compared to HD DVD is supposedly 3.5 to 1—compelling numbers for a lifespan of just 1 year. They even addressed some questions regarding the recent introduction of the LG dual format BD/HD DVD player and Warner's upcoming announcement of their dual-format disc. Their response: "We welcome another disc player. Our library of movies will grow that much faster. We don't see dual format players affecting Blu-ray's growth."

Speaking of growth, they brought up each movie studio executive, one by one, to talk about their future plans with the standard. First up was 20th Century Fox, who expects to launch 10 Blu-ray titles per month. Some of the releases include Independence Day, I Robot, and Kingdom of Heaven, which will debut in a 50GB dual layer Blu-ray disc.

MGM also came to bat with their releases in year 2007, including classics like The Silence of the Lambs, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Platoon. The more recent titles include Ice Age and The Devil Wears Prada, and future titles currently in theaters such as Night at the Museum and Eragon. The consortium will also work with Dell, Sun and Cyberlink to develop BD Live, an interactive feature that allows users to engage with different people around the world. They can share movie fantasies and participate in activities such as interactive gaming.

LionsGate boasted about their impressive lineup of titles hitting the market in 2007. So far, they've released 10 titles and plan to release 40-50 more in this coming year. Their biggest release is Decent, which will be their first 50GB title. Re-mastered titles include the Saw Trilogy, Dirty Dancing, and Basic Instinct. Newer titles like Employee of the Month and Season 1 of Weeds are expected to make their debut in March.

Paramount, who is also in the HD DVD camp, has a strong slate of movie titles starting with Mission Impossible 3. Award nominees Babel, featuring Brad Pitt, will also be released later on this year. Clint Eastwood's Flags of our Fathers will be another new release. Keep in mind, Paramount also has a vast library. They plan to bring movies like Payback (Director's Cut) and Face/Off (The Collector's Edition) in to the realm of Blu-ray.

Another supporter that plays both camps is Warner Brothers, who followed with their list of announcements. As with HD DVD, Superman Returns is WB's biggest hit of the year and it's going into Blu-ray production. They are announcing some big titles in 2007, including Oscar nominee, The Departed. Other new releases include Happy Feet,BeerFest, The Wickerman, We Are Marshall, and Blood Diamond. Patrolling their library will be classics like Goodfellas, The Matrix Trilogy, Ocean's 11 and 12, and the Harry Potter Series.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment will have 3 of the highest grossing movies of 2006 in the Blu-ray format. Cars and The Pirates of the Carribean 1 and 2 will debut in Blu-ray in March 2007. Older movies like ConAir, Crimson Tide, Chicken Little, and Remember The Titans will see themselves on Blu-ray discs in 2007.

Finally, the biggest supporter of the Blu-ray standard is Sony Pictures. They've seen a 700% increase in software sales because of BD players like the PS3. They are targeting 90-100 titles in the upcoming year, the most impressive number by far. UnderWorld Evolution, Fifth Element, Click, and Talledega Nights have been their most successful BD titles this year. They plan to kick-off the new year with more releases, such as Casino Royale, GridIron Gang, Open Season, and Stranger Than Fiction. Look out HD DVD.

Cisco Cheng is the Lead Analyst of the laptop team at PCMag.com. He’s a one-man wrecking crew who tests and writes about anything considered a laptop (yes, even netbooks). He’s been with PC Mag for over 10 years and gets occasional headaches from all the technical knowledge he has absorbed during that time. He’d still be snowboarding and playing basketball had he not been through multiple knee surgeries (well, two). Now he spends his time with Google Reader, the iPhone 3G, and his now 3-year...
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